Mattress protectors are commonly used to cover or encase a mattress or other cushion so as to protect the mattress or cushion from liquid spills, dust, dirt, bugs, and other matter. Mattress protectors protect the person resting on the mattress from materials that might be present in the mattress.
Mattress protectors commonly include a fabric coated with, or laminated to a layer of thermoplastic polyurethane material. The layer of thermoplastic polyurethane prevents liquid from penetrating into the mattress, preferably while allowing gas and vapor transmission through the mattress protector. The mattress protector also prevents transmission of allergens, mites, bed bugs, and other insects. The layer of thermoplastic polyurethane protects the mattress from staining, soiling, and soaking, while also protecting a person resting on the mattress from allergens, mites and bed bugs that may reside within the mattress. The layer of thermoplastic polyurethane may also assist in preventing allergens, mites, and bed bugs from entering the mattress in the first place.
Commercially available mattress protectors, however, tend to be relatively inelastic and non-stretchable, as the thermoplastic polyurethane layer is relatively stiff and resistant to stretching. In addition, the fibers commonly employed in the fabric layer are also not substantially elastic.
The present inventor has discovered that, while the prior non-stretch or low-stretch mattress protectors are adequate for traditional firm spring mattresses, easy and substantive stretchability is important for modern mattresses (such as mattresses based on memory foam, latex, air bladders, or buckling hollow-column gel material), which tend to be more deformable so as to allow the mattress to better conform to the shape of the body of a person resting upon the mattress. When a non-stretch or low stretch mattress protector is used with such a mattress, the mattress protector may hinder or prevent the mattress from fully deforming and conforming to the shape of the body of a person resting upon the mattress, thus creating higher pressure and discomfort on the body of the person.